The concept of Safety Case administration in oil and gas operations was one of the important fallouts from the public enquiry of Piper Alpha incident which happened in 1988 in the North Sea and claimed the lives of more than one hundred and fifty (150) personnel. Safety Case is a document which its process of preparation and approval ensures that operators or facility owners not only become aware of hazards in their operations but also put in place adequate mitigations to reduce the risk of accident occurrence to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), thereby assuring themselves and demonstrating to stakeholders (especially the relevant regulatory authority) that their facility is safe to operate or safe to continue in operation. Against this backdrop, the government has made the development and implementation of Safety Case a requirement for all installations operating, or to be operated, or to be decommissioned in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Nigeria’s oil and gas industry regulator (Department of Petroleum Resources – DPR) established the Safety Case Regime as a means of ensuring, validating and tracking measures put in place by operators and facility owners towards mitigating the inherent risks posed by their oil and gas installations in Nigeria. This paper therefore examines the key elements as well as benefits in the implementation of the Safety Case regime in Nigeria by evaluating the extent of compliance amongst the operators and identifying common problems facing operators in the preparation of a Safety Case for submission. The basic contents of a typical safety case, step-by-step implementation procedure, and the approval criteria were reviewed with recommendations made to improve the overall process.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Regulatory agency of the Nigerian oil and gas industry is mandated by law to investigate accidents in the industry. Data obtained from the oil and gas accident database from the Department of Petroleum Resources shows that accidents in the downstream sector contribute about 70%, when compared to the upstream sector. One of the reoccurring root causes from investigations point to administrative barrier failure – which is a lack of training and re-training of staff in the downstream sector on workplace safety. Against this background, the DPR introduced the Minimum Industry Safety Training for Downstream Operations (MISTDO) as part of the Safety Audit Clearance policy launched to drive safety in the downstream sector. MISTDO is a basic safety training which must be undertaken by all personnel working in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. This paper reviews the recorded accidents that have occurred in the downstream sector between 2014 – 2019; examines the MISTDO courses for the various workers in downstream facilities; analyses the MISTDO tripartite model (Training provider, Operator and DPR) adopted; the effects of implementation of MISTDO and concludes with the value additions of the MISTDO program to the industry.

The Department of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria's oil and gas industry regulator, is an opportunity provider and business enabler. Using regulatory instruments such as Licenses, Approvals and Permits, the Department has enabled investors to unlock opportunities in the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream sectors of the industry. The Oil and Gas Industry Service Permit (OGISP) is a mandatory requirement for all service providers rendering or engaged to render technical service to the industry, in accordance with section 60A of the amended Petroleum (Drilling & Production) Regulations, 1988. Since its establishment, the Department has issued over a million permits to service providers in various areas of specialization. This paper examines the OGISP system framework; OGISP application process and requirements for permit issuance; benefits of OGISP to the industry and the Nigerian economy; and recommendations to improve the OGISP system.

Over 70% of Nigeria's oil and gas reserves are in swamp and offshore environments with over 40,000 workers registered to work there. Following the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as the successor agency of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is the upstream industry regulator mandated to drive several safety programs to protect people, environment, and assets through enforcement of laws and regulations. The aim of this paper is to discuss the various safety programs adopted by Commission to reduce accidents in swamp and offshore areas, in which bulk of the oil and gas operations occur. A detailed review of the programs showed that in addition to protection of people, environment and asset, safety programs drive cost savings in the industry, improves collaboration among operators, creates jobs and other economic opportunities in Nigeria. This paper will discuss in detail, the background, methodology, successes, challenges, and opportunities of some flagship safety programs of the Commission. The programs to be discussed are - Administration of Offshore Safety Permit; Implementation of Safety Case; Annual Facility Inspection and Oil Spill Contingency Plan; Risk Based Inspection; Safety and Emergency Training Center and Medical Center Accreditation and Search Rescue and Surveillance Program. This paper only gives insight into the management of safety in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and does not attempt to review the performance or effectiveness of these safety programs vis-à-vis accident statistics in the industry. The various safety programs can be adopted by regulators around the world most especially in countries with a nascent oil and gas industry.

The Offshore Safety Permit (OSP) Program is the Personnel Accountability System, being utilized by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Regulator, in line with global best practices to manage the details of over 40,000 oil workers registered to work on offshore and swamp facilities and track their movements to-and-fro such facilities. The Program was introduced in 2012 to standardize requirement for personnel travel to offshore and swamp locations and to eliminate issues such as: non-compliance with mandatory competency and safety training; non-compliance with medical fitness to work requirement; unauthorized extended stay on facilities at offshore/remote location; inaccurate documentation of personnel movement to-and-fro facilities at offshore/remote location leading to delayed/wrong incident reporting. This paper examines, through the review of the OSP policy, Guidelines and database, the value addition of the program since its inception., detailed and insightful discussions are made on the importance and potentials of the OSP program as a simple but integral policy and planning tool in managing risks, enhancing collaboration and improving safety and emergency services in Nigeria's oil and gas industry.